3 November, 1996

Today and yesterday were mainly spent getting our lab set up in the Crary Lab. We had to stock it with a bunch of equipment and supplies so that when we come back from taking our ice cores we are all set to run many different analyses and tests on the algae that we find at the bottom of the cores. My main responsibilities are going to be to preserve a portion of the original core in a fixing agent called glutaraldehyde and also to make epifluorescent slides so that we can tell the differenece between the sick and healthy cells. I am also responsible for identifying what species of algae we are seeing and if the assemblages change among different sites we visit.

After work, there are lots of fun things to do around McMurdo--I went and checked out the exercise building and weight room on Saturday night. They have stairmasters, treadmills, rowing machines, and bikes to work out on along with free weights and machines. There are also 2 bowling lanes next door to the weight room but I haven't bowled yet!

They call the building we eat in the galley, a military name for cafeteria. They also have a small store where you can buy souveniers, film, candy, shampoo etc.

Tomorrow we go on our sea ice survival training so I'll fill you in on how that goes later on.

Jessica